How did you teachers handle your first tri?! I am gonna lose my mind!

AHH! Is all I can say. I am 7 weeks and I never would have thought that I could feel this sick and tired for 2 weeks straight and the thought of possibly feeling this way for another 7 weeks makes me even more…well..nauseated.

I am one of the lucky ones who haven’t actually vomited yet, but I also feel sick constantly unless I am eating saltine crackers or drinking gingerale/water.

As a teacher this is crazy! I teach 5th and 6th grade so the kids know something is up. They also are suddenly smelling even worse than they did before (post gym class middle schoolers=worst smell ever). I literally cannot concentrate on anything because of my nausea, dizziness and exhaustion. My doctor put me on extra B6 but it has not made any difference so far.

The worst part is that I do co-teaching so there is another teacher in the room that depends on me to be on my game all the time. They are also vetran teachers who have been around 30 years and expect the best from me. Today one of the kids asked me if I was sick because I was “being lazy” (I sat next to one of my students while the other teacher was teaching instead of walking the room because I was dizzy)

They noticed something this week and I just told them I have been sick, and I know both of them would be sympathetic if I told them the real reason, but I can’t yet.

Also I have my first teaching observation in 2 weeks!!!!!! OMFG how will I make it through! This is my tenure year (obviously the little one is an oops because why would someone ever plan on having a baby their tenure year) so I am loosing it!!!!

Not a teacher, but I had a coworker in a somewhat similar situation. We work in a lab, so it was very important that someone knew early on that she was pregnant because she was not going to be able to work with all the same chemicals etc as before being pregnant. It was also harder for her to spend all day on her feet, walking around, carrying/lifting things etc..

She did not announce to everyone in the office, but she did tell our boss and her very immediate coworkers right away. A couple months later she announced it offically to everyone. I will say that even though I wasn’t told early on – I did know. BUT I didn’t say anything. I knew this was something she wanted kept quiet until she was 12 weeks or more. I respected that and hopefully your coworkers would too if you deicde to tell any of them.

So I guess I am saying based on my second hand experiance it might be a good idea to at least tell someone so they’re aware since it is effecting you. I don’t think you need to tell the students. Saying you’re not well or sick, is fine for now. They don’t need to know.

I also had a good friend who was pregnant during pre-med undergrad and again during medical school! (oops and ooops again!) She also had to share this with certain instructors and classmates because she was not allowed to do certain lab work and frequently missed class or ran out of exams/lectures to be sick. She had horrible morning sickness. We were all again, very respectful – kept it quiet and had her back.

I wish you the best of luck with all of it! Sounds like a trying time right now, but I’m sure you’ll get through it.

Try Seabands. I’ve heard amazing things from friends and family about them helping with nausea and morning sickness. After wearing them they said they didn’t feel any nausea, dizziness at all. Worth a shot I guess!

I work at University and have had awful nausea for almost all of my 14+ weeks. For situations where I have to be “on”, chewing gum, sucking on ginger candy or peppermints has been greatly helpful.

Ask your doctor for a prescription if you need to. I’ve been on both Zofran and Diclegis. Zofran was AMAZING, but I had to stop because of a side effect. Diclegis is ok, but not wonderful– I still vomit 2-4 times a day.

Fellow teacher here. I am further along, so I was already 9 weeks once school started, but I was still pretty nauseous. Like you I didn’t throw up, I just felt really dizzy and ill all the time. Sea bands helped a little, but were way more annoying than they were worth. Gum was honestly my best friend. Whenever I felt nauseous or smelt something bad, I popped in a piece of strong minty gum and it usually did the trick.

Also, once school started I decided to tell the teachers on my team right away as well as my boss. I figured I would want them to understand why I was slacking a bit. They were all super understanding and would help cover for me when my students (9th grade) asked questions. When I was 11 weeks, I had a scare when I started bleeding at school. Everyone was so great and told me to go home immediately so that I could call my doctor and rest. It was so great to have everyone jump to help out so quickly. I ended up telling my students at about 14 weeks and they were beyond excited. Now that I am 18weeks and showing, they are even more excited for me and ask me questions constantly.

Honestly I only got through because of my aide. She was able to cover me when I needed to go to the bathroom or when I felt sick or dizzy. I did a lot of teaching sitting down, which is so hard because I teach 2nd grade. I would go home EXHAUSTED and go to bed at 7:30. I’m out of the first tri but at 16 weeks I still feel dizzy from time to time esepcially in the morning. You really just have to push through and if I were you I would tell your co-teacher asap so she understands the reason you might be off your A game. I’m sure she will be great about it! Goodluck!

I’m a teacher as well. I ended up being on summer break for the majority of my first trimester (I think I was at school until week 8, then break started), so I may not be too much help.

I would let the veteran teacher know, plus your boss. I accepted a new job in my district and found out three days later that my husband and I were expecting. I ended up telling my boss and two of my closest coworkers right away. I didn’t want my boss to think that I was hiding anything. Luckily, everyone was super supportive! They all kept it really quiet until I was ready to announce.

In the meantime, don’t be afraid to teach from your chair, have things at your desk that help with nausea. If there is an air freshener that you can stand the smell of, I would also use that. I also would take a nap the second I got home from work. It was almost easier to go in earlier in the morning and get things finished so I could jet out as soon as it was time. Good luck!

Last time I used prescription Zofran to help me get through. Papaya enzyme is safe and can help somewhat. You could try B 12 also. Mercifully I was in the beginning of the first T at the end of the school year the last times and had an assistant. This year at just 5 weeks, I think, it hasn’t been a problem.

I would also let the kids your not feeling well so xyz is going to be different. So far my 3rd graders have been good when I’ve had to do that, when I was going through a m/c at work. I also had to do that when I had kindergarten and had to limit my movement. An assistant help a lot then but kids understand when your body isn’t doing well.

I know what you mean about the observation. I had my formal obs. today and was in tears after my pre-conference. I’m sure it wasn’t bad like I thought, but it was someone new to my school doing it and not what I was used to. I’m crying pretty easily at work now which stinks. I’m not normally a “crier.” At least it’s not in front of the kids, only my work besties.

@Tatertot2003: I just laughed out loud – sixth graders smell BAD!!!! I teacch them too 🙂 I had a steady diet of ginger ale and saltines. I did get sick in front of them twice (why do they need to talk about such gross things?!), but I told them I just get easily grossed out and they bought it. I only told my class last week (at 15 weeks) and while a lot suspected, most were surprised. As far as the fatigue, I have taken a nap every day and that has helped a lot. My nap sleep is better than my overnight sleep.

Hang in there! I tried to think positively – every time I got sick, that meant my little girl was still moving around in there 🙂 It is still oddly reassuring every time I gag.